Arteta Confirms Muscle Injury For Saka

Arsenal's manager, Mikel Arteta, conceded that his team's 2-1 defeat in the Champions League against Lens in France on Tuesday served as a "big lesson." Arteta also confirmed that star winger Bukayo Saka had been sidelined with a muscle injury during the match. Saka, who had recently limped off late in Arsenal's 4-0 Premier League victory against Bournemouth, managed to recover and started in the fixture against Lens. He even played a key role in Arsenal's opening goal, setting up Gabriel Jesus. However, Saka suffered an injury setback just after the half-hour mark, ultimately requiring substitution, with Fabio Vieira taking his place. Arteta explained the situation, saying, "He tried to back-heel a ball in the first half and he felt something, it was something muscular. He was uncomfortable to carry on so we had to take him off." Adrien Thomasson had equalized for Lens before Saka's substitution. Elye Wahi later scored the winning goal for the hosts in the second half. "It was big enough to stop him being able to continue and that is obviously a worry for us," said Arteta, who rejected suggestions Saka might have been rested here. "It was a knock that he had the other day. He was perfectly fine. It was an action, it was the back-heel, that can produce that type of injury. Let's see what the extent of it is." He added: "He was really looking forward to playing. It was a big Champions League night. I painted a picture of the type of game that we would have to face today. "It is the Champions League so it is difficult to win, very difficult to win away from home, and we take a big lesson from tonight."